1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus for recording program content transmitted in a broadcast signal and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, recording apparatuses that are capable of recording program content of digital broadcasting to a hard disk drive (HDD) or optical disk (e.g., digital versatile disc (DVD)) have become popular. Unlike apparatuses for conventional analog recording using magnetic tapes, the recording apparatuses for recording digital broadcasting are capable of recording additional information in addition to a video image or sound.
According to digital broadcasting in Japan, viewers can also enjoy multi-view broadcasting. According to the multi-view broadcasting, the viewers can freely select one out of three angles of a video image in the same program (service). Program content that includes a plurality of content data that are associated with one another and are broadcast by a plurality of channels in the same time period are hereinafter referred to as multi-view content. A recording apparatus capable of recording multi-view content is commercially available. By using this recording apparatus, three channels of content data having a standard definition (SD) image quality can be recorded at the same time. With the spread of digital broadcasting, the number of program content data of multi-view broadcasting is expected to increase.
Conventionally, a method for deleting the oldest content data or indicating already-reproduced data as target data that may be deleted if a hard disk in the recording apparatus runs out of space has been proposed.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-222963 discusses a method for setting an appropriate storage period for each category of the program and determining a recording area for the information whose storage period has expired as an area allowed to be deleted.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-171485 discusses a method for securing a required free space by re-recording once-recorded program content in a lower bit rate.
The viewer can enjoy the multi-view content by simultaneously viewing video images of a plurality of channels that are displayed using multi-view display as well as freely selecting a video image of a channel that the user desires to view. If the multi-view content includes content data of a main channel and content data of a sub channel, depending on the program, the viewer can fully enjoy the program by viewing only the main channel.